16 Reasons to Choose a Career in Nursing
Updated December 5, 2023
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Do you have a passion for caring for people and want to see them get better? Consider a career in nursing.
Registered nurses (RNs) are in demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects RN jobs to grow faster than average between 2022-2032. New RN roles will open as an estimated third of nurses over 55 retire, according to the Journal of Nursing Regulation.
Nursing offers many entry-level nursing options, specialties, working environments and pathways for advancement. Learn 16 reasons why choosing a nursing career might be right for you.
1 | Nurses Make a Real Difference
Nurses do much more than perform medical tasks. As a nurse, you can make a real difference in someone's life. You can offer hope to people, sometimes during the worst time of their life. Nurses often counsel patients and families after a devastating diagnosis, celebrate good news, and become trusted confidantes.
Nurses can also improve their communities through volunteering. In a 2017 survey, 74% of nurses pointed to non-work related activities when asked what they had done to improve their community's health. Activities included health fairs, health-related volunteering, raising or donating money, and traveling for volunteer work.
“Oftentimes, people are alone in the hospital, and while they (of course) need medical care, they also sometimes just need a friend and to know that someone cares. As a nursing student, this is something you can do even on your first day.”
— Sarah Brooks, ABSN student
2 | Nursing Degree Programs Exist Everywhere
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) ranks health professions second for the number of associate and bachelor's graduates. Most large cities have many colleges and universities that offer an associate degree in nursing (ADN) or a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program.
3 | Nurses Can Pursue Their Education Online
You can get your nursing degree through an accredited online nursing program anywhere in the U.S. Since nursing is a hands-on profession, you will be required to take classes online and complete in-person nursing clinicals in a healthcare setting.
It's important to ensure any nursing program you attend is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. This is necessary to take the National Council Licensure Examination for RNs (NCLEX-RN) and master NCLEX-style test questions to get your license.
4 | Many Nursing Students Find Financial Aid Opportunities
Student debt can be overwhelming. Even with payback programs, it can take up to a decade to pay off school loans. Fortunately, nursing students have many ways to pay for nursing school.
Some options to reduce total debt include nursing scholarships and grants from various organizations. Financial aid is available for students seeking an associate, bachelor's, master's, and even DNP degree. Many hospitals also offer tuition reimbursement programs for staff looking to go back to school to get their ADN or BSN.
Financing your nursing school education doesn't have to leave you with a lot of debt.
5 | Nurses Can Enter the Workforce Relatively Quickly
Several nursing degrees allow you to enter the workforce quickly. You can earn an ADN, pass the NCLEX-RN, and get your nursing license in as little as two years. Then, if you return to school to complete your bachelor's degree, you can do it while earning a stable income.
Associate degrees in nursing are one of the highest paying associate degrees. According to Payscale data from October 2023, graduates of an ADN program make $76,000 per year, which is $23,740 more than graduates of other associate degree programs.
Earning your BSN degree opens more opportunities for career advancement and a higher average annual salary of $92,000, according to Payscale.
6 | Nurses Have a High Level of Job Satisfaction
The 2019 American Mobile Nurses (AMN) Healthcare survey found that 81% of nurses were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their career choice.
When asked if they would encourage others to become a nurse, 70% said "yes." The survey also found that supporting professional development was tied to job satisfaction.
When employers supported nursing professional development, 52% were extremely satisfied with their jobs. When employers did not support professional development, only 7% were extremely satisfied.
In 2023, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) reported that 100,000 nurses left nursing during the pandemic because of increased workloads and rising levels of workplace violence, burnout, and nurse bullying.
About 800,000 expressed intent to leave by 2027. Yet, with all the challenges nurses face, nursing schools are still turning away tens of thousands of qualified applicants every year since 2019 because they do not have the nursing faculty to educate aspiring nurses.
Nursing schools nationwide need more nursing faculty. Yet, schools in midwestern states such as Wisconsin, Iowa, and Kansas, have about a 7% nurse faculty vacancy rate compared to about 10% vacancy rate in Southern and Western states, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
“When I speak with people and tell them my job, almost always the response is, ‘Once when I was sick, I had the best nurse take care of me, and I’ll always remember them helping me.’ It is a wonderful feeling to know we have helped.”
— Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
7 | Nurses Get to Do Exciting Work
Each day with patients can be different. Whether in a clinic, office, a hospital, or an organization, nursing is not dull. In the McKinsey Frontline Workforce Survey from November 2021 by AMN Healthcare, data showed that 32% of nurses had plans to leave their current positions. Only 29% of these nurses planned to stay in a direct patient care role.
The rest of the nurses had plans to move into a non-beside role, further their education, or leave the workforce to focus on their family or other life goals. Nurses who planned to leave direct patient care wanted work-life balance, flexible work hours, safe working environments, better compensation, and more manageable workloads.
“Nursing is incredibly versatile, and there are many ways to learn new skills and apply the ones you already have. It is one of the most exciting and unique things about nursing; you can be a chameleon and constantly change.”
— Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
8 | Nursing Is a Respected Field
In 1999, Gallup started a decades-long survey to determine the most ethical and honest profession. In January 2023, Americans ranked nurses in the number one position for an impressive 23 years. The only year nurses were not in the top spot was following September 11, 2001, when firefighters earned the highest score.
In addition to ranking first, nurses earned the highest score to date in 2020 for honesty and ethics. In 2020, the ranking was four percentage points higher than the last recorded high in 2019.
9 | Nurses Can Choose Their Specialty
Nurses are vital to delivering healthcare in many different settings. You can choose from over 100 nursing specialties, so you'll likely never be bored.
You can focus on a specific population, such as gerontological nursing, or go into a more specialized field, such as a flight nurse or transplant nurse. You can also pursue roles that do not directly work with patients, such as health policy careers.
Nurses can easily move from one specialty to another. For example, after practicing as a dialysis nurse, you may wish to become a traveling nurse. If you are an experienced specialty nurse, you may be able to pick your assignments.
If you want to become a labor and delivery nurse, you may need some hands-on experience and continuing education for nurses before finding a new position.
10 | Nurses Work in a Stable Industry
By 2030, the entire baby boomer generation will have reached age 65. Up to 85% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition, and 60% have at least two. According to the BLS, nurses are in demand to care for a growing population of people with chronic diseases.
The BLS projects that job growth for nurses at all levels is expected to grow faster than average because of this demand. The projected job growth includes 118,600 nurse practitioner (NP) jobs and 177,400 RN jobs.
11 | Nurses Receive Excellent Benefits
Hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices may offer excellent benefits to attract and keep qualified professionals. For example, a nurse's median annual salary of $81,220 is well above $46,310, which is the average annual salary of all occupations.
Travel nurses usually receive added benefits for filling an in-demand position on short notice and for the inconvenience of living and working in another city. They usually receive hazard pay or critical staffing pay in addition to the higher average hourly wage that travel nurses earn compared to staff nurses. These can include benefits to cover travel expenses and a stipend for housing, meals, and other bills.
Benefits for nurses include:
- Paid sick time
- Paid vacation and holidays
- Paid family leave
- Bonuses for working extra shifts or when understaffed
- Health and life insurance
- Tuition reimbursement
- Retirement benefits
- Wellness programs
- Childcare
- Subsidized travel
- Student loan repayment
- Shift differentials where nurses earn more for working holiday, weekend, or night shifts
12 | Nurses Develop Transferable Career Skills
Nursing offers the opportunity to adapt your professional life to fit your lifestyle. For example, you can find work in a variety of geographical locations and work environments. You may choose to work full or part-time and day or night-shift. You can also work shifts as short as four hours or as long as 12 and make more money in shift differentials.
In your first year of nursing school, you'll develop and hone nursing skills like critical thinking, communication, and organizational skills. You will develop the ability to remain calm and focused in an emergency.
These skills can help you transition from clinical nursing to other non-bedside options, including nursing administration, nonprofit management in nursing, public health nursing, correctional facilities, or being a missionary nurse in clinics across the world.
“Nursing is also a flexible career with so many options. If you don’t like a certain floor or hospital, you can try another one. If you don’t like your current schedule, you can switch it. If you want to further your education and advance your career, there are many ways to do so.”
— Sarah Brooks, ABSN student
13 | Nursing Grads Have Smoother New Hire Transitions
All nurses experience orientation or onboarding as they move from an academic to a clinical setting after they graduate as a nurse. For many nurses working in large teaching hospitals, this transition may be eased by the hospital's one-year nurse residency programs designed to help new nurses successfully transition from school to various work settings for nurses.
Although there is a nursing shortage across the U.S., it is still challenging to get a premium job. You can improve your success by working while you're in school to gain nursing experience and complete internships. Nursing students who gain volunteer experience and network while in nursing school also have an advantage when it's time to apply for their first nursing job.
14 | Nurses Collaborate With Different Healthcare Professionals
Nurses play a unique role in healthcare. They spend a lot of time with patients at the bedside, so they must collaborate with healthcare teams to coordinate patient care and improve outcomes.
The bedside nurse is the hub of patient activity. They know the recommendations of each healthcare professional attending to the patient. Nurses need strong organizational and critical thinking skills to understand how each recommendation affects the overall care plan.
They must also explain the care plan and instructions to patients and their families in an understandable way.
“Nurses are often the first person to assess and examine a patient and to come up with differential diagnoses or an assessment of what the problem may be. From there, the nurse lets the attending physician or provider know the outcomes of the assessment.”
— Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
15 | Nurses Have Many Leadership Opportunities
The skills you learn caring for patients can help as you apply to a charge nurse role on the unit. Charge nurses must assign patient care and monitor the staff, making adjustments as needed during the shift.
Nurses with strong nursing leadership skills may go on to positions in administration, such as unit managers, clinical nurse leaders, patient care directors, or chief nursing officers.
You can also take advantage of leadership roles in clinical practice, including advanced practice nurses, clinical nurse specialists, and case managers. Nursing offers several avenues to take additional responsibility and progress up the career ladder.
16 | Nurses Are at the Forefront of the Telemedicine Movement
Telehealth nursing increased significantly during 2020 when healthcare providers began treating patients at home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The need for remote telemonitoring for patients in the intensive care unit or at home continues to grow. Remote monitoring can reduce costs for a hospital or physician's office without sacrificing patient care.
Nurses are integral to patient consultations, taking patient histories and coordinating care at home. They are often the primary source of health education and monitoring. Incorporating telehealth services has given nurses a new tool to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Popular Online RN-to-BSN Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
A Nurse and a Nursing Student Share Why They Choose a Nursing Career
Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
Elizabeth Clarke is a board-certified family nurse practitioner. Her experience spans emergency departments, cardiac units, pediatric urgent care, and occupational health settings. She earned her bachelor of science in nursing and master's in nursing from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Clarke is a paid member of the Red Ventures Education Integrity Network.
Sarah Brooks
I'm a mom to three daughters, currently enrolled in an accelerated nursing program. Prior to nursing school, I spent over a decade as a writer and editor in the personal finance niche. While I've enjoyed it, I've always felt a desire to go back to school to become a nurse. With my youngest starting kindergarten last August, I figured there was no better time for me to take the leap and return to school. My career goals include both working as a nurse and continuing to write and edit in the finance and healthcare spaces.
Sarah is a paid member of the Red Ventures freelance Education Student Network.
What experience of making a difference as a nurse would you share with a prospective student to help them understand how nurses make a difference?
Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
I can remember feeling overwhelmed, working my first holiday shift as a new graduate RN.
It was New Year's Day, my unit was busy and short-staffed. Patients and family members were short-tempered. I ran from patient room to patient room, getting their medications done relatively on time, monitoring vital signs, and ensuring my post-cardiac catheterization patients remained on bed rest.
I had a patient who needed monitoring, she was very sick, but was waiting on testing. She was frustrated, hungry, and thirsty. She was being kept NPO (nothing by mouth), since her doctors still did not know what was wrong with her.
Every time I passed by her room, she would call out and ask for help, needing reassurance. One of the times I stopped in, she began complaining of severe abdominal pain.
I looked at her abdomen and noticed it was beginning to appear distended. Her face was pale with pain, a fine sheen of sweat forming. I auscultated (listened to with my stethoscope) her abdomen, and heard nothing, no bowel sounds. I palpated her abdomen; it was rock hard.
I called the on-call internal medicine physician covering her that day. I quickly gave him a rundown of my concerns, how she looked, and her growing abdomen.
He came right up, we examined her together, and he went running to call a stat surgical consult. He asked me to drop an NG (nasogastric tube) down to see if we could decompress her, standard procedure if you suspect someone has an obstruction or ileus. I grabbed my supplies and my health care technician for help.
We went in and quietly explained to our patient what we needed to do, how we needed to help her, that I would try and get her pain under control and we would figure out what was wrong.
She was clenching her teeth in pain, fear, nausea, all of the above. We started prepping her to put in her NG tube when the surgery resident ran into the room, he began examining her in a brusque manner, pressing hard on her abdomen.
She cried out in pain, I remember quietly asking him if he would let me give her some IV pain medication quickly to minimize her pain while he finished the exam.
He gave me a quick nod and then called his attending on his cell phone in front of the patient, saying he needed an OR, stat. He then turned to my tech and me and told us to get her moving to the third floor OR suites now.
It was a tense moment, my patient did not understand what was happening, she was in severe pain, nauseous, and confused.
As we pushed her down the hall, grabbing additional staff for help, following the resident, I quickly told her they suspected a small bowel obstruction that was becoming worse, twisting her intestines, and they were rushing her so they could get her into the OR as soon as possible.
I remember promising her the on-call surgeon was very good, we would help her, and anesthesia would keep her comfortable so she would not feel any pain.
She asked to hold my hand. She wanted to know if I would be there when she woke up. I told her it depended on the time they finished the surgery, but I promised to tell the recovery room nurses to please hold her hand as they woke her up so she would know she was not alone.
I gave a quick bedside report to the receiving nurse and went back to my unit.
I was working the next day as well, and when I came into my unit, I looked in the system to see where my patient from the day before was. She was in the surgical ICU. I had a busy morning, so later in the afternoon, I asked my charge nurse if I could run down to the SICU to visit my patient, she agreed to watch my beds for me.
When I went into the SICU, I greeted some of my friends who were working and told them about my patient from the day before.
I connected with her nurse, she told me she was doing well, surgery was complicated by a previous liver transplant and lots of scar tissue. She said the surgery report noted the patient was quickly deteriorating and the obstruction was twisting the small bowel.
I went over to my patient's bed and was surprised to see her awake and very alert. She smiled, reached for my hand, and thanked me. She started to cry, she told me no one had been listening to her when she tried to say something inside her was hurting.
She said she had felt ignored until she got transferred to my unit and I was her nurse. She told me she had felt very scared and discouraged, but when I told her I would take care of her and explained what was going on, she felt safe.
A decade and a half later, this patient is one I always remember even though I have cared for countless others since. I know I made a difference to her and provided excellent nursing care. We often speak of our nurses' gut -- our intuition.
On that New Year's Day, I trusted my intuition; I knew something was very wrong. I listened to my patient and trusted my nursing assessment. I am glad I was able to make a difference in her life. She had a successful surgery -- she survived -- and was discharged to rehab for recovery a week later.
Sarah Brooks, ABSN Student
In my experience as a nursing student, it's nurses that make or break a hospital stay. A kind, compassionate nurse who listens to their patients and does their best to meet their needs will be remembered.
My first shift in clinicals was on a Med-Surg floor specializing in disorders of the respiratory system. I was extremely nervous and had no idea what I was doing medical-wise, but I knew I could at least talk to my patients and provide a sense of comfort.
I had four patients in total and spent about an hour talking with them about why they were admitted to the hospital, how they were feeling, and other details of their lives. When I told them I was leaving for the day, they all individually thanked me for taking the time to sit with them.
Oftentimes, people are alone in the hospital and while they (of course) need medical care, they also sometimes just need a friend and to know that someone cares. As a nursing student, this is something you can do even on your first day.
What reasons do you have for being satisfied with choosing nursing as a career, even amid the challenges in the field right now? Why would you recommend nursing to prospective nursing students?
Nurse Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
I love being a nurse practitioner. I am proud to say I am a BSN RN and a family nurse practitioner.
I often have been with people in their hardest moments -- when they are at their sickest, most injured, or most scared. I have been able to provide care, answer questions, hold a hand, and save lives.
Being an RN and now an NP has allowed me to fulfill my desire to help others and serve my patients and their families.
I recently saw a reel on a social media platform where the person filming it was speaking about hard times, and how we can choose to be someone's light during their darkest hour. To me, this is what being an RN is all about.
We can be someone's light; we are the helpers. At the end of some of my hardest shifts back when I was an RN, the days where I had too many patients, too high of an acuity, and no time to eat, I always knew I was helping.
Without my care, those patients may not have had their medications on time or had their pre-op workup completed, or been recovered from their procedure, or may have fallen when they tried to move from their bed to the bathroom.
When I speak with people and tell them about my job, almost always the response is, 'Once when I was sick, I had the best nurse take care of me, and I'll always remember them helping me.' It is a wonderful feeling to know we have helped.
Sarah Brooks, ABSN Student
Nursing is a second career for me and is something that had been in the back of my mind for many years. I knew I had to at least give it a shot. From what I've experienced so far, the rewards of nursing outweigh the hard times by far.
I, personally, am satisfied with choosing nursing as a career because it's truly a job that makes a difference.
It's not always going to feel that way, but when push comes to shove, it is us nurses that the patients will remember. It's up to us whether their hospital stay is an excellent one or a poor one. I love knowing that I'm directly impacting the lives of patients day in and day out.
Nursing is also a flexible career with so many options. If you don't like a certain floor or hospital, you can try another one. If you don't like your current schedule, you can switch it.
If you want to further your education and advance your career, there are many ways to do so. There are school nursing, work-from-home nursing jobs, per diem jobs, and more.
While the main thing that drew me to the career was my interest in the medical field and the ability to make a difference in the lives of others, the schedule flexibility and opportunities for advancement helped to solidify my decision.
What do you find exciting about your nursing career?
Nurse Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
I work in occupational medicine currently, so while it is not quite as exciting as my days back in the ED or cardiac unit, it does have its moments of excitement and busyness.
One of the most exciting things about being an RN is that you can work almost anywhere in the medical field.
If working with children interests you, choose pediatrics. If surgery is where your interests lie, think about working in the operating room as a scrub nurse, or in the pre or post-operative units prepping and recovering patients.
Are you someone who craves an adrenaline rush to keep you on your toes at work? The emergency department is your place then, there is never a boring moment. From overdoses, to accidents, and illnesses, the ED is hopping.
If you tire or are burnt out in your chosen area, you can switch to a different area of nursing. Nursing is incredibly versatile. There are many ways to learn new skills and apply the ones you already have. It is one of the most exciting and unique things about nursing, you can be a chameleon and constantly change.
Sarah Brooks, ABSN Student
The entire job of a nurse is exciting because anytime you walk through the hospital doors, you truly don't know what you'll walk into.
You never know if you'll have a smooth, calm day or a crazy, hectic one. Things can take a turn for the worse at any time and on any floor, so you always need to be prepared and keep an eye on your patients at all times.
I also get excited thinking about my future as a nurse and what that will look like.
Again, this is a career with so many options and opportunities. I've toyed with everything from going back to school to pursue my nurse anesthetist degree (CRNA) to working from home as a nurse writer.
Only time and experience will determine what I'll land on, but I definitely get excited thinking about all the possibilities.
How would you say about how the nurse's pivotal role in coordinating patient care with the rest of the healthcare helps make nursing a good career choice?
Nurse Elizabeth Clarke, FNP, MSN, RN, MSSW
As nurses, we are constantly in contact with other healthcare professionals. From doctors, NPs, or PAs to therapists (physical, occupational, speech or mental health), to registered dieticians, and more, we must collaborate with other professionals regarding what is best for our patients.
Nurses are often the first people to assess and examine a patient and to come up with differential diagnoses or an assessment of what the problem may be.
From there, the nurse lets the attending physician or provider know the outcomes of the assessment. In this way, nurses have a unique position to see, assess and call attention to a problem.
Nurses are excellent at knowing what other care a patient may need, and how to ask for that help. If a nurse sees a patient struggling to swallow, asking for a referral to speech therapy can help ensure the safety of that patient so they do not aspirate.
Nurses are often asked by the provider how the patient is doing and what their needs are - this is an example of the provider realizing the pivotal roles nurses play.
Collaboration in nursing is often mentioned during nursing school, because of this, nurses develop excellent collaboration skills.
Nursing is a great career choice for those who want to help, care, and collaborate for the best outcomes of their patients.
Sarah Brooks, ABSN Student
Nurses are the eyes and ears of the hospital. If something goes wrong, it's almost always a nurse who catches it first. We are the ones in the hospital 24/7.
Doctors, of course, have a pivotal role in determining treatment plans and helping patients recover, but it's the nurses who play out the treatment plan, see how the patient is responding, and keep the doctor in the loop on any changes.
In my (limited) experience, one thing I've really come to learn is that it truly takes a patient care team to treat the patient. All roles are equally necessary and important.
Not only do nurses collaborate with other members of the healthcare team, but also with the family members of the patient. This could be in person or by calling a family member to update them on the status of their loved one.
The nurse not only provides comfort to the patient, but to the family members, as well.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nursing Careers
What are the reasons for choosing nursing as a career?
Most nurses choose to work in the profession to help others live better lives. Whether you work in a hospital, clinic, missionary clinic overseas, administration, or correctional facility, the underlying reason most nurses choose the profession is to help those in need. Another reason is that nursing is a high-paying career with advancement opportunities and flexibility.
How hard is it to become a nurse?
You can become a nurse in as little as two years by completing an ADN. You can further advance your career options and salary by earning a BSN degree. You can do this in two years if you already have an RN license, online or in the classroom and while you continue to work. You can also earn an accelerated BSN degree if you hold a bachelor's in another field.
What qualities do you need to be a nurse?
Nurses are compassionate, patient, and understanding. They have strong critical thinking, communication, and organizational skills. You may not have these skills at the start of your nursing education but will develop them in your nursing program and hone them in your practice.
How do I know if nursing is right for me?
If you are curious to learn more about health and wellness and have a desire to help others, consider speaking with an admission counselor at your local college or university. You may also want to consider volunteering in a hospital or shadowing a nurse for a shift.
Page last reviewed on November 2, 2023
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Reviewed by
Our Integrity Network
NurseJournal.org is committed to delivering content that is objective and actionable. To that end, we have built a network of industry professionals across higher education to review our content and ensure we are providing the most helpful information to our readers.
Drawing on their firsthand industry expertise, our Integrity Network members serve as an additional step in our editing process, helping us confirm our content is accurate and up to date. These contributors:
- Suggest changes to inaccurate or misleading information.
- Provide specific, corrective feedback.
- Identify critical information that writers may have missed.
Integrity Network members typically work full time in their industry profession and review content for NurseJournal.org as a side project. All Integrity Network members are paid members of the Red Ventures Education Integrity Network.
NurseJournal.org is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.
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